Mayor wants final plan for Preston

Just hours after the announced sale of the landmark Preston Springs Gardens Hotel, Mayor Doug Craig was at regional council pushing for final plans for the corner of King and Fountain streets.

“It’s been seven years since we started this,” he said, referring to the long awaited improvement plans at the top end of King Street. “They (the landowners) shouldn’t have to wait another two years before that area can be redeveloped.”

Craig has asked regional staff to finalize its plan for the intersection by July so that developers Paul de Haas and Faisal Susiwala can push forward with their projects. Susiwala wants to rebuild the old Kress Hotel at the vacant corner of King and Fountain streets as part of a $100-million redevelopment project.

Should the project come to fruition, the busy Preston corner could be home to several hundred people.

Meanwhile, de Haas who is finalizing the purchase of the Preston Springs Gardens, is weighing his options – which including turning the landmark back into a retirement home, converting it into a boutique hotel or condominium apartments.

While Craig wants regional traffic planners to finalize their designs for the busy intersection, he is also asking Susiwala and de Haas to meet with him early in the new year to discuss how they might be able to work together.

“This is something Faisal tried to do with the previous owners, but it didn’t come to anything. I know he is interested in trying again with Paul,” said the mayor.

Paul de Haas’ Haastown Group is the company behind the development of Waterscape on the Grand River in downtown Galt. The company also has a history of converting old industrial buildings across southern Ontario into residential use.

Regional transportation planning staff has nailed down their plans, but are still hammering out what land they will need to acquire and what utilities will have to be moved before any construction can begin. Construction is not slated to take place before 2016.

“This is great news for Preston and the entire city,” Craig said of Wednesday’s purchase announcement. “We’ll do everything we can within our policies to help them.”

Both the Preston Spring Gardens and the old Kress Hotel site sit within the Preston core and owners are eligible to apply for assistance from the city’s financial incentive program for redevelopment.